


A Cookie Conundrum

by TheWholeDamnTime



Series: Modern Vox Machina [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-10-02 11:35:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10217135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWholeDamnTime/pseuds/TheWholeDamnTime
Summary: In which Grog has an allergy and shenanigans ensue. A holiday prompt, despite the blazing heat of summer that's currently streaking its way through my college.





	

Pike pinched her lips together as she stared into the oven, the warm glow radiating out and casting a golden light on her face as she watched the little lumps of cookie dough slowly oozed into the perfect circles of chocolate-chip goodness she was waiting for. Biting her lip in anticipation, she raced to go grab a chair and scramble her way to the upper cupboards. Grog wasn’t around to be her arms right now so she’d been climbing the kitchen to reach the things she needed. While she was starting to get exhausted, the smell of warm chocolate from the ovens was enough to pull a smile from her lips and make things worth it.

It was their first Christmas on their own, after they’d moved out from Wilhand’s place. She had just started her undergraduate program towards the medical degree she knew she could get. While that was sapping away her time, she wanted to still make the holiday season special for her brother, who was out doing the odd jobs he’d picked up purely by being over six feet of pure muscle. Every time she’d asked him what his favorite type of cookies were, he’d answer that his favorites were _her_ favorites, and that they should just make those. Now, Pike was determined to make him something new and just for him.

Grog liked chocolate.

It wasn’t Pike’s favorite- she preferred fruity or spiced desserts, and so he often went along with her because he was simple and kind-hearted and just as much of a giver as she was. This Christmas, though, their first Christmas with just the two of them, and she wanted to give him something that he’d enjoy more than going along with her own favorites and pretending they were his own. Of course, the simplest and most obvious answer was the classic chocolate chip cookies, and she’d been slaving in front of the oven until the warm smell of the fresh-baked goods filled their apartment. Smiling to herself as the timer went off, she propped open the oven door and felt the warm gust of scene dissipate into the room. Thick oven gloves covered her hands as she reached to pull out the sheet of perfectly warm cookies.

The door opened with its usual banging of the door that announced her brother’s homecoming, and she placed the hot trey on the countertop with a smile.

“Pike!” he crowed, slamming the door shut behind him. “I’m home!”

“Hi, Grog!” she called out with a beaming smile across her face. “I made cookies!”

 “Cookies?” he said, stepping into the room with an enormous smile plastered across his face. He rushed her and swept her into a tight hug that lifted her an inch or two off the ground, and she laughed at his almost childlike excitement.

“Grog, let me _go_ , you’re all gross!” she cried, laughter still bubbling through the words, and he set her down with a grin. She jokingly tried to wipe away the grime he’d left on her apron and watched as his eyes trailed away to find the trey of cookies cooling on the counter. He grabbed one as quickly as he could, bouncing it from hand to hand to make sure he didn’t burn himself before deciding it was cool enough to take a bite. Pike’s face broke into an even larger grin as he let out a groan of satisfaction.

“So they’re good?”

“So good,” her brother mumbled around his mouthful. There was a pause, though, and she watched as his eyes slowly shifted from eager to confused. “I feel tingly… On my tongue. Is that s’pposed to happen?” he asked, his forehead scrunching up. The massive man looked at the cookie curiously, eyeing it with concern before taking another bite. As she watched him examine the cookie again, a feeling of dread slowly started to creep over Pike.

“Grog…?” she asked slowly, and he looked up to nod her on while he quickly resumed his happy chewing. “Are you allergic to anything?”

“Jus’ vanilla,” the large man replied with a smile on his face, still munching away. “Why?” There was a pause as she stared at him in horror and he popped the remainder of the cookie in his mouth. In a sudden rush, she ran at him, pulling at his arm with flailing movements and all the strength she could muster.

“Spit it out, spit it out!”

“Wha-?” he asked, but went to the sink and did as she said, his feet stumbling and hands catching himself on the counter as he did so. “Pike what’s-”

“ _I put vanilla in these I’m so sorry are you okay how do you feel-_ ” she babbled, reaching up to steady him by his shoulder.

“Dizzy. A little- puffy? Like I’m a cake rising.” He had a slightly confused grin on his face. “It’s- ‘s a little like bein’ drunk,” he laughed before taking two steps and completely toppling over, barely missing crushing his sister by an inch. After a few moments of dry heaving, he resigned to a mumbled “I shoul’ prolly get help.”

“Grog, how did I not know this?” she hissed, helping him into a sitting position and holding his head in her hands so she could look at his pupils and open his mouth. Her stomach was in knots and she felt like vomiting as she took tally of the symptoms of a severe allergy appearing on his features. “Oh my god, we’re going to have to get you to a hospital.” Her voice was low, strained, and she didn’t think he heard her until he tried to ge up and ended up flopping back against the wall, letting out a sharp huff of air.

“We always eat snickerdoodles. Snickerdoodles are your favorite,” he mumbled with a light air of confusion laced through his words. “An’ they don’ have v’nilla…” His voice trailed off, the words slurring with a swelling tongue and Pike’s heaving breaths catching in her throat.

“Do you have an epi pen?” she asked desperately, hurriedly wracking her memory for any sign of Grog carrying or even owning the long syringe.

“A wha’?”

“ _Why do you not have an epi pen?_ ” she cried, shaking him violently by his shoulders before racing as fast as her legs could carry her to the door and down the hall, where she violently banged on the door with the sign “Solicitors Will Be Fed to the Bear”. After several seconds of incessant banging, the door swung open to reveal a very confused looking Vex’ahlia and an over-zealous Trinket, who immediately leapt from the doorway to try and cover Pike with kisses. As she fruitlessly tried to push the enormous beast back, she looked up to the woman in the doorway with fear and desperation tearing up in her eyes.

“GroghadanallergyandIdidn’tknowandhe’sinthekitchenand _Ican’tlifthim_ pleasecomehelpmeplease-” she babbled out, and though the confusion in Vex’s eyes remained, she grabbed the dog by the collar and heaved him back inside.

“Brother!” she nearly screamed, gesturing for Trinket to go back to his crate, which he did with a sagging head. “V-” a blur of black raced from the back room, knife in hand, cutting her off mid-sentence as she gestured for him to follow and Pike turned on her heel to race back to her room. There, Grog was still sitting on the floor with his back to the wall, head lolling a little with dizziness.

“Don’ worry,” he slurred, his words inhibited by his swelling tongue. “I’m fine, Pike, I only had one…” At that moment, a twin slid under each of his arms and heaved him to his feet as the smaller woman ran to the door and held it open for them.

“The car’s in the garage,” she said over her shoulder, already rushing to push the button on the elevator. Thankfully, it dinged open just as the twins were able to help the dizzy, stumbling man to the doors down the hall as his sister frantically pushed on the “G” button. The descent seemed painstakingly slow with the twins barely holding up the enormous Samoan man and his smaller sister fretting, stretching up to put a hand on his forehead and checking the inside of his mouth periodically. Finally, finally, they were there and Pike left the elevator in a dead sprint for the car, pulling the vehicle around with a harsh screeching noise and putting it in park before jumping up to help them put Grog in the back. Vax slid into the back of the car as well, smooth as if he were made of liquid, and buckled them both in while Vex turned to put a hand on her friend’s shoulder.

“Get in the passenger side and call the hospital so they’re ready for us. I’ll drive.” She swallowed and nodded, blonde hair streaked with flour bobbing around her face. Her movements were sharp and jerky, carrying her quickly to the passenger’s seat as Vex rushed into the driver’s seat and made some quick adjustments so she could comfortably pull onto the road. Pike swallowed and quickly dialed the local hospital number, lump in her throat as the phone rang and a cheerful voice asked her how they could help.

“My brother’s consumed some of a substance he’s allergic to and may potentially be going into anaphylactic shock. I- I’m not sure, his tongue is swelling and he’s dizzy and can’t walk right and he’s all puffy and- yes. Yes, ma’am, I’m calm, we’re driving to the hospital right now. No, my friend is at the wheel. I’m so sorry. I’m just worried, this is our first year on our own and- sorry, ma’am. It’s a vanilla allergy. Yes, ma’am. Thank you.” Letting out a long breath, she hung the phone up and turned back to see Grog horribly swollen and leaning against a vaguely disgruntled looking Vax’ildan. “How you doin’ there, buddy?” she asked, and let a small bubble of laughter fly from between her lips as he gave her a shaky thumbs-up.

Vex probably broke four or five traffic laws on top of her constant speeding, and while Pike was grateful for the speed at which she got them there, her first steps outside of the car were trembling and her heart was pounding with adrenaline. The car had barely shifted into park when she shot like a cannon ball from the passenger’s side and ran into the emergency room, nearly collapsing on the counter with her heaving breaths.

“My brother- he- vanilla- I didn’t know-” The receptionist calmly raised his hands, an eyebrow going up.

“Calm down. He’ll be fine, I sent one of the other nurses with a wheelchair a few minutes ago. Sit. Breathe.” Pike gulped down a few more breaths of air before she turned to see another nurse pushing a smiling Grog through the front door, his face puffed and swollen to the point it would be comical if it wasn’t so dangerous. He gave her a slightly weaker thumbs-up as they passed, and she started to rush over without hesitation, drawing a groan from the receptionist.

“You. No, no, you,” he said, gesturing to her. “Chill. They’re going to give him some meds, but you need to fill out paperwork.” She glanced over her shoulder, then back at the grumpy looking man behind the desk. His eyebrow was raised, and his eyes trailed after her brother getting wheeled away as he stated with a mixture of indifference and disbelief “That’s your _brother_.”

“Yes,” she sighed, already knowing the thought process running through his head as she reached voer to retrieve the paperwork. As she pressed the pen to the form, she suddenly felt a figure behind her and jumped, dragging the tip of the pen in a jagged line across the paper. The employee groaned again and pushed forward a new form, crumpling up the old one and tossing it in a waste bin as she turned to face the twins.

“Thank you guys so much,” she gasped in relief, letting the compressed air escape her lungs in a gush of relief. Vex gave her a small, sympathetic smile and reached out to pull her into a hug. Vax’s hand was on her shoulder, and she let herself be engulfed by the comfort her friends provided. When she finally pulled back, there were tears welling in the corners of her eyes. “Honestly, guys, thanks.”

“Of course.” Vex’s smile was gentle, her brother’s mouth a flat line of worry, their level of care and concern for her and her brother warming Pike’s heart.

“A- _hem_ ,” coughed the man behind the desk, breaking the moment. The glare of his multicolored eyes remained heavy against Pike’s back. “Hate to interrupt, but we’d really like these forms filled out.”

“You’re an asshole at work, too, Kash? Who would have guessed,” quipped Vax. Pike glanced back at him, confused. A slight huff of laughter from Vex brought her gaze to rest on the other twin, and she smiled with her explanation.

“He lives with our tattooing mentor, Zahra.”

“Oh!” the small woman said, smiling and turning back to see that the nametag read _Kashaw_. “That’s lovely. Very nice to meet you.” He stared at her outstretched hand like it was an alien species, an eyebrow raising, and she slowly retracted it. “I’m sorry, but do you know if this place does residency hours? I’m a medical student, see, and-” She was cut off by the sharp scraping sound of the clipboard being pushed across the desk.

“Please, in god’s name, just fill out the forms,” he groaned.

“Right, sorry.”

Thirty minutes of looking up information on her phone and texting Wilhand for what she didn’t know later, Pike handed the forms to the grumpy man with a tentative smile. Another, peppier nurse had let them know that he could go back home in just a little bit, but would need lots of fluids and to buy an epi pen. The student had nodded solemnly and taken down a list of what needed to be done, and had been nervously staring at the set of doors ever since. Finally, _finally_ , her brother was wheeled out the doors and she launched herself at him, practically crawling in the chair with him in an effort to wrap him in a hug.

“Hey, best buddy,” he said, smiling down at her and hugging her back. “Thanks for the thought, but, uh, I think I’m gonna pass on the cookies.” She couldn’t help but laugh at that, a watery, relieved sound as she hugged him again, tighter.

“I’m sorry my attempt at an early Christmas present landed you in the hospital,” Pike whispered into his chest. She pulled back briefly to get a better look at his eyes, which were already less red and swollen than at the beginning of this ordeal.

“It’s okay,” he said with a grin. “They were good before they got all tingly, if it makes you feel better.”

“Aww, Grog,” she said, wiping away a small tear before embracing him again.

“Ready to go?” asked Vex after a moment. Pike pulled herself off of her brother and smiled to where the twins waited with their arms crossed, a half-smirk on Vax’s face and a genuine smile on his sister’s.

“Glad you’re not dead, big guy,” said Vax with a hearty _clap_ on Grog’s shoulder. “Now let’s go home.”

* * *

Three days later, Pike found an envelope slipped under the door- a hand-scrawled letter wrapped around what looked like a bundle of forms. Confused, she read the letter first:

_Here’s what you need for your residency application. Don’t fuck it up. -Kash_

She laughed in a moment of surprise and joy, quickly rushing to the table to open up the application and start filling it out. As she worked, she reached forward and nabbed one of the cookies she’d been snacking on ever since the hospital trip and paused with the cookie in midair. Slowly, a smile crept over her face, and she rushed to open the various cabinets, searching for the tools she’d need.

The next day, Kashaw was just about ready to collapse on his bed, face-first, when he realized there was something on it. A small paper plate was heaped several inches tall with chocolate chip cookies, topped with a note in neat, feminine script.

_Thanks. -Pike_

A thin smile crept across his lips and he put it to the side before turning back to fall back on his pillows, absentmindedly picking up a cookie to wedge between his lips. As he softly chewed himself away to sleepiness, he reviewed the taste to be almost _too_ good- save for the overwhelming amount of vanilla clashing with the chocolate.

**Author's Note:**

> Because everyone in this fandom creates their own Modern!AU, right? 
> 
> Anyways, I have roughly eleven pages worth of headcannons about what my universe is and will be writing out ficlets from it whenever my muse hits me over the head with inspiration. Prompts are always welcome, and very much encouraged! I might end up having to post all of the headcannons/AU building points I have thus far for clarity, or I might just list those that are relevant to each fic in an extra add-on chapter. Feel free to input your opinion on which would be better for you guys! 
> 
> Thanks so much for reading, and please remember I live for your comments <3


End file.
